


In a Garden

by EurydicaeQuercus



Series: Is this what a saviour looks like? [9]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Post-Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser DLC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 01:18:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19240909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EurydicaeQuercus/pseuds/EurydicaeQuercus
Summary: After all the hustle and bustle of the past few weeks, what with Solas, and Zaren's arm, and everything, Zaren and Arnumin finally take a moment to talk of all that's happened, and their plans for the future.





	In a Garden

The sun shone warm through the trees as Arnumin made her way through the outer edges of the vast garden that surrounded the Winter Palace. It was an explosion of colour in the heat of late spring, vivid greens and pinks and reds everywhere she looked. The heady scent of a million flowers lay thick in the air. She’d never seen such a garden, and shuddered to imagine how much work it must take to maintain it all year round. The Orlesians must employ a veritable army of gardeners. 

As she went deeper and deeper into the maze of flowers, she found her mind wandering. Of course, she wasn’t there merely to admire the scenery. She was looking for Zaren. She knew Zaren was here  _ somewhere _ —provided that Varric hadn’t been lying to her. Which, of course, he might have been. She pushed the thought away. She would find Zaren. She was here, she knew it. 

She paused for a moment to admire the deep, glittering blue of a still pool of water, just off the path. The reds and pinks of the flowers all around reflected off the surface, but the deep blue was still visible underneath, giving the illusion of impossible depth. 

Suddenly a hand touched her shoulder and she jumped back right into a slender arm. As she turned to face the owner of the hand, large, curious purple eyes greeted her, and the tension immediately drained from her shoulders. 

“Ren, you frightened me,” she said, smiling weakly at her wife, who was still peering at her bemusedly. 

“You should pay more attention to your surroundings then,” said Zaren, with a teasing smile. “I’d never have been able to sneak up on you otherwise.”

“Pfft,” Arnumin snorted, folding her arms in mock offence. “We both know that’s not true. You have the step of a mouse.”

“That’s one of the benefits of being able to cast properly again,” she said, smiling warmly and stepping lightly to Arnumin’s side so they were both facing the small, glittering pool. “It’s strange; I feel more whole now, without my arm, than I did when it was there.”

Arnumin raised an eyebrow at Zaren. She knew, or at least, very heavily suspected that this was not true. Zaren had been in pain ever since her arm had been removed, and was still having trouble balancing without the prosthetic she’d made out of ironbark. Whenever Arnumin tried to help, however, Zaren would insist that she was getting on fine, and didn’t need any help at all. It was infuriating, but Arnumin knew Zaren still felt like a burden on her and was only trying to get her not to worry. The idiot. 

“It doesn’t hurt anymore then?” asked Arnumin, unable to keep a certain ice out of her tone. 

“It...still aches,” she admitted, removing her hand from Arnumin’s shoulder and refusing to look her in the eyes; instead gazing into the pool as though somewhere in its depths was the answer to all of her problems. “But compared to before it’s nothing.” 

She paused for a moment and sighed deeply, before frowning. Arnumin waited for her to speak. She would explain in her own time. 

“I just can’t win, can I?” she finally said, shaking her head and turning back to Arnumin, though she still refused to meet her gaze. “My magic is whole again, but my body is still all off-balance. I keep forgetting it’s not there, trying to grab things or keep my balance but it’s just...gone.”

The ice melted in her chest as she saw the pleading look on Zaren’s face. She shouldn’t hide her pain so often but...she couldn’t stay angry with her. Not now. 

Arnumin wrapped her arm gently around Zaren’s waist, pulling her close so she could rest her head on her shoulder, hoping it would be of some comfort to her. She just felt so...utterly helpless. She’d felt that way ever since she’d realised the Anchor was killing her wife. It wasn’t fair she had to suffer all alone. She found herself wishing, as she so often had since she’d found out the truth, that she could bear the pain for her, just for a day, to make it slightly easier. But she couldn’t. So she just kept her close, and hoped that was enough.

The stillness of the pool was disturbed by a light breeze winding through the overgrown pathway, the wind sending ripples across its shimmering surface, disturbing the reflection of the leaves and flowers above, and shattering the illusion of depth it had had before. Zaren’s breathing was slow and steady. For a moment it was almost peaceful. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” said Zaren, quietly, her voice barely breaking the silence. “I’m sorry, I know I haven’t really said that yet. I just felt so silly. I was all alone here, but I didn’t have to be—if I’d just let you come sooner—”

“Hush,” said Arnumin, closing her eyes and letting her head rest against Zaren’s. “I know you had good reason, and I don’t blame you for wanting to keep it a secret. But we’re together  _ now _ . That’s all that matters to me.”

“Yes,” said Zaren, breathing a quiet sigh of relief. “Yes, you’re right. It’s no good lamenting what might have been. And now there’s no damned Inquisition to separate us again.”

“You were magnificent,” she said, unable repress the smile that rose to her lips at the memory. “Those nobles were so flabbergasted. I don’t think they thought you’d be so angry.”

Zaren snorted and lifted her head from Arnumin’s shoulder, now smiling smugly. 

“Hah, if they thought that was me angry they haven’t seen anything,” she said, grinning and shaking her head. “Still, that’s probably for the best I suppose. I don’t have to deal with them anymore, and they don’t have to deal with me. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

“If what you told me of the Ball last year was true, I have to agree.”   
  
“Would I lie to you?” asked Zaren, turning to her with mock offence. “Everything I wrote was indisputable fact...more or less.”

“I believe you,” said Arnumin, lifting her hands in surrender, unable to repress a chuckle. “You should write a book about it, you know. The number of frankly insane things that happened to you would be enough to fill several novels.”

“I think Varric’s beaten me to the punch in that regard,” she sighed, dramatically reclining onto the nearby wall. “Besides, I’m more than happy to fade into obscurity again. Even if...we can’t go back home yet.”

“Why not?” asked Arnumin, joining Zaren on the wall, folding her legs and balancing on the edge in an effort to calm her nerves. She’d been wanting to ask for a while, but she still wasn’t sure how Zaren would take the idea. Still, it was now or never. “We can go back to Wycome for a while, surely? Solas isn’t bashing our doors down with the Fade yet. We have time.”

Zaren gave her a long, strange look then, her eyes boring into Arnumin’s like she was seeing straight into her soul. Then she broke eye contact and looked at the ground, massaging her upper arm absentmindedly. The world seemed to move in slow motion as Arnumin waited for her to speak. 

Vermillion petals floated in the air, carrying with them an almost overpowering sweet scent, but it wasn’t quite enough to mask the lightning smell still crackling off Zaren as she continued to gaze at the floor. The air was warm but not humid. Arnumin almost wished it was, then she could claim it was that that was making her feel so uncomfortable. At last, the silence was broken. 

“Time…”

Zaren closed her eyes and covered her face with her hand. Arnumin inched closer to her and placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on her shoulder. Zaren removed her hand from her face and straightened up again, her eyes glistening in the sunlight. 

“I have...time,” she said, slowly, as though testing the words on her tongue. 

“Yes,” said Arnumin, gently, so as not to startle her. “We both have time.”

The subtext remained unspoken, but lay thick in the air between them. 

“You...want to go back to Wycome?” asked Zaren, now looking at her with an intensity Arnumin hadn’t seen in a while. 

“Well, I…” Arnumin trailed off, the words getting tangled on her tongue, not entirely sure what she wanted to say. She hadn’t expected Zaren to be so receptive to the idea. “Maybe not Wycome specifically, if you don’t want to, just somewhere relaxing maybe, I mean we’ve been basically on the run for ages and I just thought—”

She was cut off as Zaren leaned in and lightly kissed her on the lips. It was only a very brief moment, but that tension, that  _ anxiety _ she’d felt ever since she’d entered the Winter Palace finally slid away for good. She was with Zaren again, permanently this time and she at last felt like she  _ knew _ it. 

“We can go wherever you want to,” said Zaren, smiling gently at her, and Arnumin knew some of her anxiety had lifted too. “Goodness knows I’ve had more than enough adventure for now. It’s time I did something for you again.” Arnumin opened her mouth to protest but Zaren continued. “No, don’t argue, you’re right, we’ve been on the run for ages. Some time away would be good for both of us, I think.”

“Yes,” said Arnumin, finally daring to hope. “And I  _ would _ like to go back to Wycome, I want to let my mother know everything’s...more or less alright. And she wants to see you too, you know. She mentions it in every letter.” 

“Oh, Creators,” mumbled Zaren, covering her face with her hand again. “She’ll go mad once she realises what’s happened with my arm.”

“She’ll only scold you a little,” said Arnumin, teasingly. “She’s much more likely to scold me for letting you go off here alone again.”

“That’s not exactly true, now is it?” said Zaren, narrowing her eyes at Arnumin. 

“Oh quiet, you were mostly alone,” said Arnumin, pulling Zaren into a hug and squeezing her shoulders. “Besides, we can face her together. Courage in numbers! Or however the saying goes.”

They both laughed then, and it was quiet, and warm, and peaceful. The flowers swayed in the breeze, and the pool rippled beside them.  



End file.
